t
and which was called drottquade (king^s
long).
It was divided into ftanzas, each
o f which coniifted of four couplets,
and each o f thefe couplets was again
compofed o f two hemiftichs, each
liemiftich contained fix iyllables : nor
was it allowed to augment this number,
except in cafes of the greateft
neceffity. Thefe fyllables coniift of
three or four feet, according to the
different forts of verfification, and
fometimes o f more, in proportion to
the fliortnefs o f the iyllables. Befides
this, the Icelandic poetry requires two
other things, viz. words with the
fame initial letters, and words o f the
fame found. This aifonance is called
hendingy and is either more or lefs;
in the firft cafe it is called adalhending,
and in the fecondy Jkotthending, This
you may clearly fee by the following
example:
Auftur londum for imdann
Alvaldur fa er g a f fcaldum,
Hann feck gagii at gunne,
Gunntrbr da flog morgum,
SlydiiF
Slydiirtungur let flingra
Sverd leiks reigenn ferdar,
Sende grammur ad grundti
Gullvarpathi fnarpann.
Here it muft firft be obferved, that
there is in every couplet a fyllable
that governs the whole verfe, rader
quaedinniy which is almoft always the
firft word in the fécond hemiftich ;
and two words in the firft hemiftich
muft begin with the fame letter, i f it
is a confbnant ; but when it is a vowel,
one vowel may be put for another.
Thus, for example, in the above ftanza
the following words are thofe that govern
each verfe, confifting of two lines
or hemiftichs, radar quedandi: in the
firft verfe, the word alvadur, becaufe it
begins with a vowel, has, in the firft
hemiftich o f this verfe, the words auffir
and undann; in the fécond xerfegunhdr-
day you find gagn and gunne in its
firft half; in the third verfe fverd,
whence in the firft hemiftich Jlydurtun-
giir avtdjl'ingra ; in the fourth verfe,
gulharpathiy which requires grammur
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